Gallery 2: From Magdalenefjord to Moffen

The start into this section couldn’t have been any better: the sun coming out behind the mountains in Magdalenefjord, shining like a spotlight on and through the pieces of glacier ice near the beach, was stunningly beautiful. We collected a large fishing net from the shore, leaving the nature even a bit cleaner than we found it, and paid Waggonwaybreen a visit.

Time for the first glacier hike: we fitted the crampons to our boots, landed in Scheibukta and went up Scheibreen. The peninsula Reuschhalvøya (who knows this name?) between Madgalenefjord and Smeerenburgfjord has some quite impressive alpine scenery, with sharp mountain ridges and lovely glaciers, but it is small enough to be accessible, to some degree, within a few hours.

Further north in Smeerenburgfjord and a day later, we found harbour seals and our first walrusses in places used by explorers and whalers centuries ago. On Ytre Norskøya, we had a free view towards the north pole. The 80th parallel was not far away, we crossed it during the night to set foot ashore on the rarely visited island Moffen the next day. Walrus madness on 80 degrees north! Unforgettable, and yes, and we will try to repeat this experience in 2016.